Rahim is in prison because of a debt he was unable to repay. During a two-day leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint against the payment of part of the sum. But things don't go as planned. Is he truly a hero?
Ratings
Curator score: 9.0/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Metacritic: 82
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
Asghar Farhadi
Production
Memento Production, Asghar Farhadi Productions, ARTE France Cinéma
Cast
Amir Jadidi, Mohsen Tanabandeh, Sahar Goldoost, Fereshteh Sadr Orafaee, Sarina Farhadi, Ehsan Goodarzi, Maryam Shahdaie, Ali Reza Jahandideh, Farrokh Nourbakht, Mohammad Aghebati, Saleh Karimai, Ali Ranjbari, Fatemeh Tavakoli, Amir Amiri
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A tense, morally knotted drama that turns a simple act of decency into a public ordeal. If you like socially grounded films where every choice has consequences and no one stays purely innocent for long, this is a strong watch.
Best for
viewers who like moral dilemma dramas
fans of slow-burn tension and courtroom-adjacent social conflict
audiences drawn to contemporary Iranian cinema
people who appreciated A Separation or The Salesman
viewers who enjoy ambiguity over tidy resolution
Skip if
you want a fast-moving plot with clear heroes and villains
you prefer uplifting or feel-good dramas
you dislike talk-heavy, procedural social realism
you want a film that resolves its ethical questions neatly
Overview
A Hero is classic Asghar Farhadi: deceptively ordinary on the surface, then steadily tightening into a pressure cooker of competing truths, public perception, and private desperation. What begins as a practical attempt to fix a debt becomes a study of reputation, institutions, and the way a small act can be inflated, distorted, and weaponized by the world around it.
Worth noting
The film’s power comes from how carefully it withholds certainty. Characters are never reduced to simple good or bad, and the story keeps forcing you to reconsider who is being honest, who is performing virtue, and who is trapped by circumstance. That ambiguity gives the drama its sting and makes the emotional fallout feel earned.
Bottom line
It is not Farhadi’s most devastating film, but it is one of his most precise. The social detail is sharp, the performances are lived-in, and the tension builds from conversation rather than spectacle. If you like dramas that quietly expose the fragility of public morality, this lands hard.
Top Letterboxd reviews
davidehrlich (4★) · 1321 likes
Here’s some free advice for any movie characters out there: If you ever happen to stumble upon a random bag full of money — and it’s not much of a stretch to assume that you might someday — the very first thing you should do is look up and check if the opening credits are still floating in the air nearby. If you see the words “directed by Peter Farrelly,” you might be in for a pretty good time and… more Here’s some free advice for any movie characters out there: If you ever happen to stumble upon a random bag full of money — and it’s not much of a stretch to assume that you might someday — the very first thing you should do is look up and check if the opening credits are still floating in the air nearby. If you see the words “directed by Peter Farrelly,” you might be in for a pretty good time and… more
Scott Tobias (5★) · 495 likes
Farhadi's best since A Separation, and on the same level. There may be better filmmakers right now, but there's no better dramatist than him.
Ethan Colburn (5★) · 415 likes
Absolutely wrecked me.
This is the closest thing I’ve seen to The Bicycle Thieves, and I imagine my experience was similar to the experience of watching that for the first time in the 40s. While it presents a different situation, it also presents a scenario that makes you question your own morals, and digs into the meaning and consequences of a man’s actions, both his good and cruel intentions.
This is my first Farhadi movie, (I’ve been told I should… more
˗ˏˋ suspirliam ˊˎ˗ (4.5★) · 377 likes
was not expecting uncut gems level of stress from this goodness meee i am devastated
Hungkat (4★) · 229 likes
It's always heartbreaking to watch someone who makes a minor blunder that undoes everything they’ve done right up to that point. A seemingly basic premise quickly devolves into something far more complex. A Hero expertly examines society's construction of a model, carved out by social expectations and the media, whose ethics and morality are publicly scrutinized at every step he takes. Farhadi asks a lot of questions yet offers very few to no answers. It's a film of truths, half-truths, and little… more It's always heartbreaking to watch someone who makes a minor blunder that undoes everything they’ve done right up to that point. A seemingly basic premise quickly devolves into something far more complex. A Hero expertly examines society's construction of a model, carved out by social expectations and the media, whose ethics and morality are publicly scrutinized at every step he takes. Farhadi asks a lot of questions yet offers very few to no answers. It's a film of truths, half-truths, and little… more
The clearest companion piece: another masterclass in moral complexity, domestic conflict, and escalating consequences from a seemingly manageable problem.
A grimly humane descent through institutions and indifference, ideal for viewers who like social systems under pressure.
Topics
Iranian drama, moral dilemma, slow burn, social realism, psychological tension, family crisis, public shame, bureaucratic pressure, contemporary, prestige drama